A New Chapter
by Angie Tempete
Summary: The year is AC 199. Peace was thought to have been achieved, but... New enemies are threatening, and the original saviors of the Earth Sphere may not be able to defeat them alone...
1. Prologue

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A New Chapter

By Angie Tempete

Things to know: As you might be able to tell, I decided to revise the story. I couldn't write more chapters when things were bugging me from the earlier ones. So I'm going to try this again. For anyone who didn't read the original version, …um… I hope you like this. I don't own any part of Gundam Wing and any characters that weren't in the series I made up by picking names out of the phone book, but I still consider them mine, so don't use them without my permission. Here we go again. And please tell me what you think.

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Prologue

September 15, AC 199

Location: Northern California

It was one of those unbelievably gorgeous moments. A chilly breeze whipped the grass on the sand dunes back and forth and the ocean reflected red-gold from the sun that sat on the horizon. Foaming waves crashed onto the beach and raced along the sand before being pulled back. The roar of them was rather calming, when compared to the roar that would have been heard almost four years ago. Ironic that this place used to be an Alliance training facility.

The area would show the evidence of that for decades, no matter how hard environmentalists worked to restore it to the national park it once was. Their budget didn't have enough money or manpower to replant all the destroyed vegetation or replace the native wildlife. However, in one of bureaucracy's little quirks, it seemed they'd been given enough of both to turn the tiny old base into the guide center and gift shop it once was; well, the surface portion anyway. The underground barracks and hangers had already been sealed off. That had been the first part of the project; trying to erase a past that was painful for everyone.

Alex Malone gave a wry little smile. They'd need one big eraser to get rid of that giant crater just outside of the small town of Harmony, a few miles north along the coast. That entire incident had been pilot error. The pilot had used idiotic judgment, didn't fully understand the operating systems of the test fighter, and didn't seem to have enough intelligence to use a compass. He shouldn't have even been allowed near the thing in the first place and every one of the engineers and pilots knew it. But the brass didn't buy it; the pilot had been the nephew of a general and now he was dead, therefore pilot error was not a possibility and the higher-ups were demanding a sacrifice. In a matter of days, they'd concluded it was sabotage and had sent a little unknown underling who used to clean up the mess hall to his death by firing squad. For heaven's sake, the kid had only been 14!

He shook his head; better not to dwell on it. He'd gotten out after that. Worked off his obligatory term in the military as a lowly engineer, then made a beeline out of California with his fiancée, a medic, right beside him. They'd been barely 18, broke, with no family on either side and wildly in love. And they'd made a damn good life of it if he did say so himself.

The two-year-old that wrapped herself around his leg made him laugh. With practiced ease he tossed her in the air as she shrieked with laughter. He was settling his daughter on his shoulders when a small blonde woman ran up to them, her rolled up jeans nearly soaked and covered with sand.

"Alex," she said in a warning tone, though she was nearly out of breath, "I wish you wouldn't throw her around like that."

He grinned. "But she likes it so much, isn't that right Sara?" he asked looking up. Sara giggled happily and smacked him on the nose. "Violent little monster, aren't you? I think she's going to be exactly like you, Sylvie."

His wife hit him playfully on the shoulder. "Well when you practically let her get away with murder, what do you expect? You're going to spoil her rotten you know."

"Our little angel? Never," he said with fake seriousness.

Sara began squirming to get down, and the instant she was on the ground, she dug her hands and feet into the sand.

"She's going to be ESUN's first female President," he continued in the same tone.

"She's going to drive us both crazy is what's going to happen," Sylvie said with a grin. "She's probably going to give you heart attacks when she hits her teens."

Alex deadpanned. "Sara's not going to be a teenager. She's going to stay a little girl until she's thirty and then she's going to be President."

Sylvie doubled over with laughter.

Sara lost her interest in the sand at that moment and tugged on her parents' legs. "Pway! Pway!" she pleaded, then raced towards the waves. The sun turned the air to molten gold, reflecting in the ocean, the sand, and the clouds.

A flash of light glanced off the camera lens. The photographer turned the viewfinder to another angle, hoping to find a new way of looking at the scene. A rustle in the background warned of a gust of wind, and the photographer dropped to the ground, heedless of the sand that flew up, to catch a shot of the sunset, blurred, with the waving dune grass silhouetted in stark focus and a shadowy figure kicking up shining drops of water.

"The sun, the sea, the sand and the sky. Perfect," the photographer decided, with a grin on her face as she returned the camera to its bag and simply lay on the warm sand for a moment. That was it. The picture she had been waiting for. She had known it, even as the shutter had clicked. That would be the shot that would dominate her photo essay of this sphere of the restoration program. There would be other pictures of course, but that was the embodiment of this little piece of the continent, as she had come to know it.

For the project in the Arizona desert, it had been single drops from a thunder storm pounding the desert floor as a cluster of saguaro blossoms provided the only contrast in an endless see of green and brown. In the foothills of the Rockies, it was a white picket fence along a worn dirt road, in a little springtime valley with the staggering height of the snowcapped mountains drawing the eye, again and again. And along the Gulf coast, it had been little Sara, fearlessly laying on the boardwalk in a coastal marsh to watch an alligator glide underneath as her parents crouched beside her.

She'd first met the Malones on that same project along the Texas coast. Sylvie had taken an avid interest in the new program being implemented by the North American region's government, and the family had been active participants even in planning. They were considered invaluable and irreplaceable by everyone, except the politicians who were funding the program.

She sat up, tucked her legs under her and grinned as Sara dodged the waves then chased them back out again. Alex was threatening to dunk Sylvie in the ocean, and she defended herself with a wet glop of sand that left a nice sunburst design on his shirt.

As she shifted, a tumble of things fell out of her jacket pocket. Keys, nail file, pocket knife, hair tie, ace of spades, napkins... 'Why am I carrying an ace of spades?' she wondered vaguely as she brushed damp sand from her ID. Anne Gardeskie. DOB: April 5, AC 182. Height: 5'9". Hair: red. Eyes: brown. She smirked. That was a very boring description, and not really accurate. Her mother would have been horrified to hear it. Estelle Gardeskie had always declared that her daughter had gotten the perfect blend of features. Anne had the same height and willowy frame as her mother. The wide amber eyes of her father were almost too large for the sharp planes of her face. 

Looping the camera strap over a shoulder, she pulled out what was left of her braid. The coastal winds had played havoc with it all day. Not like it was anything resembling neat in the first place. She ran a hand through her hair, a mix of Dad's coal black curls and Mama's sunset locks. At the moment, the thick mass resembled the fiery-gold fringes of the clouds. When it was dark, it would take on the hue of smoldering ashes.

Sylvie screamed bloody murder as Alex scooped her up and walked knee-deep into the waves. Sara shrieked excitedly as another wave rushed around her current seat on the sand. Anne grinned and picked up the camera.

Click.

Splash!

Sylvie came up sputtering. Alex was already backing out of her reach.

Click.

Anne was barely managing to hold her camera steady. It was hilarious to watch a grown man be chased by his pixie of a wife (who, by the way, was trying to call him as many foul names as she could think of without actually swearing), and the end of the line was brought up by a waddling toddler in soaked overalls. Anne was nearly falling over from laughter.

"You'd better watch it, Annie dear!" Sylvie yelled over her shoulder at the girl on the sand dune. "Once I'm done with this wise guy here, that film will never see the light of day!"

Anne grinned cheekily. Sylvie Malone had almost frizzy bright blond hair, big baby-blue eyes, and was barely four-foot-ten.

Click.

Alex just managed to dodge his wife yet again. "Get a close-up of her face," he yelled. "Her expression is priceless!" He stood at five-foot-seven, with dark blond hair and pale green eyes. Alex seemed to be the perfect complement to Sylvie, both in appearance and personality.

Sara seemed content to lie in the wet sand and kick her feet in the air while she giggled. She was the image of a blonde, blue-eyed angel with a perpetual smile and endless energy. Altogether, Alex, Sylvie, and Sara Malone made the picture perfect family.

Click.

Anne's smile faded just a little. She'd once been part of a family like that. The Gardeskies had been the most well known and well-liked people of Marina; in Anne's opinion anyway. Until that stupid truck had destroyed her family. Now she was the only one left.

'Stop thinking about it,' she told herself. 'They wouldn't want you to think only about the end.' She took a deep breath and cleared her mind. Her father, Chris, had been a relatively successful photographer with his own studio, Gardeskie Photography. She'd gotten her love for the art from him, as well as the talent and the technical knowledge. Her mother, Estelle, had been a small time model for a few years before Anne was born. After that, she'd done mainly volunteer work for orphanages or hospitals. Anne could have wished she had her mother's caring, gentle nature, but she'd resigned herself to having her father's more moody temperament.

Anne liked to think she'd gotten a mix of her parents' most unique features. Her father's eyes, her mother's face. And since both of her parents had been tall, the decent height of 5'9" was expected. Of course, her sister was still taller.

After giving off one last blinding ray of light, the sun disappeared behind the horizon. Soon the stars would be visible again and Anne smiled up at the darkening sky.

"Hi up there," she whispered.

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AC 187

"Nana!" cried a young girl as she ran through the house, "Nana!" She at last found her Nana in her favorite chair on the back porch, sleeping. "Nana wake up! I haf ta ask you something!"

"What is it Anne dear?" she asked sleepily, brushing snow-white hair out of her face.

"It's Nikki!" Anne cried.

"You mean that young lady who lives down the street?" the old woman asked, more than slightly confused.

"Of course!" Anne said with exasperation. 'Like there's another Nikki!' thought the five-year-old. "Nikki's sad. She just told me her grama died. I know she didn't wanna cry in front a me, but I could tell she was gonna as soon as I left. I don' like it when she cries. Can you help, Nana?" she pleaded.

Nana smiled, "You know I could never tell you no, Anne dear." But she thought to herself, 'I'm not sure about that Nikki girl. She knows too much about the wars for a young woman, not to mention that depressed view she has. And no one's even seen that uncle she supposedly lives with. But then again, Anne might do the girl some good.' Out loud she continued, "I'll tell you what my mother told me and you can tell it to Nikki, okay?"

"Okay!" Anne smiled brightly. She loved to hear Nana's stories.

"Look up at the sky, angel. You see all the stars up there? Those are holes in the floor of heaven. When someone dies, they go up to heaven and they watch over the people they knew through those stars. They're always there to share the good times and the bad with you, so while we may not see them, our loved ones are always with us, no matter how long they've been gone."

"I miss you Nana. I know you and Mom and Dad are watching over me, but I still miss you, all of you."

Anne was brought out of her conversation by the roar of a car racing down the Coast Road. Anne grinned. Only one person she knew of would drive a sapphire convertible at that speed down a winding, twilight-lit road. She grabbed the large black bag near her feet and leisurely made her way down the sand dune.

The car came to a halt right in front of Anne without so much as a squeal or a jerk. Anne smiled and waved. Nicole Hines always made an impact when she arrived, and she didn't even have to try. She was a slender six-foot-one; had satin-smooth, dark gold hair that fell to mid-back; and had shocking eyes the dark purple-gray of thunderclouds. Someone had once compared her to a Greek goddess, though Nikki didn't take too kindly to that. People generally took one look and decided she was an airhead supermodel and refused to believe any of her looks could be attributed to genetics. Nikki was big on the philosophy of don't judge a book by its cover.

Anyone who bothered to get to know her could quickly come to the conclusion that her IQ ranged somewhere above genius-level. She was generally calm and level-headed, but that was mainly because she'd spent all 26 years of her life trying to keep her explosive temper under control. It didn't always work. She was extremely loyal and overprotective toward her friends and especially her sister.

"I thought you weren't going to show up until tomorrow?" Anne asked.

"I decided to drive up early," Nikki said nonchalantly, giving her adopted little sister a hug. As she leaned back, she noticed Anne's narrowed eyes and continued, "What? I'm not allowed to do anything spontaneous without causing suspicion?"

Anne sighed. "Nikki, if you're worried about the jerk-"

"I've got a right to be worried when it concerns my own sister, Angel. Guys like David Ryans-"

"I can handle him," Anne cut in.

That conversation ended with Sara squealing, "Ni-ki! Ni-ki!" and attaching herself to Nikki's leg.

She laughed and scooped the little girl up onto her hip. "Hey there, you little imp. Look at you, you're soaking! What havoc have you been causing lately? Hi Sylvie, Alex. Take a swim?" She smiled in greeting. "You guys have done an amazing job with the restoration so far."

"All we really need is you to install the computer systems in the center and we'll be done with that. The dirty work starts next week," Alex said.

"Have you seen Hurst House yet? What'd you think? Is the red paint too bright? You think we need something not so colorful? Has anyone been trampling the plants? I didn't get a chance to check today." Sylvie continued on like that as the others regarded her with amusement, wondering just how long she could talk without taking a breath.

The Hurst House had become Sylvie's pet project. When Mrs. Hurst had offered the house on the edge of the park nearest Harmony, the few surrounding acres and a sizable donation of money, the restoration project's leaders had jumped at it. Of course, Mrs. Hurst had wanted a legally binding guarantee that the house would never be torn down, but instead be turned into a bed & breakfast she could operate for as long as she liked, with most of the profits going to the park. Strange stipulations, sure, but they'd jump at just about any contribution. Most of the workers were going to be housed there while the park was restored and even after, seeing as the house was four stories and rather sprawling. Sylvie had fallen in love with it for some strange reason, and had begun battling with Mrs. Hurst over little details.

"I think if we just knocked down that one wall on the second floor, we could have another two-room suite. But of course Hurst won't let us touch her precious house. We barely managed to get the old bat to agree to expand the kitchen! She takes the opposite on any idea I come up with. You know what she says?! She says her grandmother would turn over in her grave if she ever heard the things I wanted to do to her house! All the old woman does talk and talk and talk and never listens to any opinion except her own!"

"Sounds like someone I married," Alex mumbled just loud enough for everyone to hear. Sylvie smacked him on the arm and glared. He rubbed his shoulder and grinned. "Hey look! She stopped talking!" Sylvie's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I think you're gonna have a black eye if _you_ don't stop talking," Nikki pointed out. "Anyway, the old bat, as you say, wouldn't even let me see my room. She ordered some guy four times her size to take my luggage up and sent me to find you four with orders not to return until I did. Are we sure she wasn't a general or something?"

"No kidding," Sylvie chimed in again. "She runs me ragged. It's like she thinks up these things just for me. No one else, only me."

"Well you also seem to be the only person she trusts to do anything right," Anne said. "If anyone else tries to do one of your jobs, she won't have it."

Sylvie twisted her face into a grimace. No one really believed she didn't like Mrs. Hurst; Sylvie didn't hate anybody, unless they were really rotten. She hated David Ryans.

"Well General Hurst has got the entire crew waiting for all of you so we can go out to dinner in Harmony. Her treat. She said it's tradition. I have no idea what she means." Nikki looked up and down the road. "So where's your car?" she asked Alex.

"We walked."

"Walked?" She sounded absolutely amazed. "But its gotta be three miles!"

Anne smiled at her sister. "Only one and a half if you take the trail."

Nikki shook her head. "You people are weird."

The ride back to Hurst House was uneventful. Sara had, for once, run out of energy and was sleeping peacefully in her mother's arms. Sylvie was leaning against her husband and smiling at her daughter. Alex was just staring at the both of them with his arm around his wife, like he couldn't believe they were his.

Nikki smiled at them as she glanced in the rear view mirror. She had only complained once about her car being flooded and covered in sand. They really were the sweetest family she'd ever seen. 

Curled up in the passenger seat, Anne looked almost twelve instead of seventeen. In Nikki's mind, she'd grown up far too fast. Anne had graduated high school when she was fifteen, surprising everyone. Not that she hadn't been smart before, but acing early graduation test only a week after her parents had died, and especially after two and a half years…

Nikki shook her head. That span of time didn't matter. It was over and done with. Besides, Anne didn't even remember, so there was no point in thinking about it.

When Anne heard about her parents, it was like someone had taken a knife to her soul. She'd cried for days, barely even ate. Nikki didn't want to think of what would happen if Anne knew just how bad it had been; or even worse, if she knew where they had been going.

Nikki had been the one to suggest early graduation. She had hoped it could take Anne's mind off her parents, and allow Anne to get away from a town full of memories, not to mention curious people who didn't have any tact. Nikki just didn't think about it. Things from that time were so long ago and didn't have any bearing on the present. She wouldn't let anything hurt her little sister again.

Anne and Nikki had always considered themselves like sisters. And it was pretty much true now since Nikki took legal guardianship of Anne after the accident. She didn't have much competition for the title; Anne's only relatives were distant cousins in Ireland that she hadn't been in contact with since she was three. And it had only taken a little… persuasion on Nikki's part to have the matter settled within days. She had taken Anne away from that past and they had spent the last two years in no one specific spot. Anne had never questioned it and for that, Nikki was thankful. She couldn't lie to her own sister.

She liked to move because staying in one place made her uncomfortable. Like she'd get caught.

After her own parents had died, Uncle Jason had been the only one willing to take her. She hadn't figured out why until she'd understood the reasons behind her parents' deaths. It was simple. They had been rebels and they'd died in an explosion they'd engineered. They'd also managed to take an entire military base in Sicily with them. So she was the daughter of two known "terrorists" and none of her relatives could hide her from the Alliance. Except her uncle. Because he was already on the run.

He'd picked her up even before anyone knew about her parents; she'd never asked him how he'd found out. She'd been seven, and he'd calmly explained to her exactly how they would be living from then on. They couldn't talk about their pasts. They couldn't talk to any old friends. No one could be trusted. No place was home. No place was safe.

She'd always been smart; smarter than any child/teenager/young adult had a right to be. Uncle Jason had used that to her advantage. He'd trained her in just about anything he could. She'd always thought that crazy geniuses ran in her family.

On the eve of her 18th birthday, she'd found out, through a few sneaky measures, just what her uncle did that had the Alliance on his tail. To say she was astonished was an understatement. But to even mention it would have been disastrous. The next day, she packed her things and left, never to see Uncle Jason or any of her family again. Except her little sister.

Nikki had been 14, Anne had been 5. Nikki had been lost, lonely, and on the breaking point with her life. Anne was a child too innocent and naïve to be touched by war and death. They'd both found someone to stand by and protect them.

That was all Nikki had ever wanted in her life. Anne was her family, no matter what genetics said. And as long as her little sister was happy, all was right with the world.

Stairs are notoriously unreliable. Whenever absolute quiet is necessary, they always manage to make noise. When the wooden step creaked, the figure on the stairs let out a shriek and jumped, nearly tumbling the rest of the way down. Biting her lip and praying no one had woken up, she took a few calming breaths before continuing down to the ground floor of the of the darkened house.

The night had been full of the usual happenings that accompany a group of twenty-some-odd people invading one place. The highlight of the evening was when Mrs. Hurst shocked everyone and offered Sylvie a job as assistant manager of Hurst House once it opened. Alex had accepted for her while Sylvie picked her jaw up off the floor.

The corners of her mouth twitched up at the thought. They'd all had fun tonight; last night really considering it was probably around three in the morning. Too bad it had to be ruined by another of her nightmares. Whatever it was about.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she started down the hall toward the kitchen and caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. Muffling another scream, she staggered back against the wall, trying to discern who had snuck up on her. All that caught her gaze was a 17-year-old girl with dark red hair wearing blue pj's.

She let her hand drop and gave a nervous laugh. 'Get a grip,' she thought to herself. 'You definitely shouldn't be jumping at shadows.' Waving at her reflection, Anne moved on toward the kitchen.

As usual, she'd woken up nearly running out of her room. She wasn't sure what it was about her nightmares that made her heart race like a jackhammer; she could never remember them. She assumed it had something to do with her parents' deaths.

Anne only hoped Nikki didn't realize she was still having bad dreams. They'd worried her sick for months after the accident. The only reason she didn't worry anymore was because Anne stopped mentioning them.

Rain pattered lightly against the window above the sink. It was normally a comforting sound, but after finding that the lights weren't turning on, Anne wished desperately for the clouds to disappear. 'Calm down,' she told herself. 'Someone probably just hit a wire today.' Still, she needed light. Recalling the layout of the kitchen, she found a flashlight above the sink, and then a glass she filled with water.

A sudden flash of panic made her turn around. Water sloshed over the rim of the glass onto the floor. The flashlight met nothing in the night that wasn't supposed to be there and she let out the breath she had been holding in a whoosh. On her way to the table, the phone rang and she picked up the old-time cordless as she sat down.

"Hello?" she asked, wondering who on earth would be calling in the middle of the night.

"Anne?! Is that you?" a man's slightly panicked voice came over the line, the roar of a car engine in the background. "You have to get out of there now! He's crazy! He just cracked!"

"Mik? What the hell are you talking about? Who's crazy?" Anne tried to be heard over the ranting, but to no avail. It was very un-Mik-like.

Suddenly, he stopped. No yelling, no car, no breathing, not even a dial tone. The phone was dead.

"Mik? Mik! Mik are you there?! Oh come on! I really don't need this right now. Mik! Is anyone there? Hello!"

There was no answer. This could only turn out badly.

That thought was confirmed by the sound of a wet boot on the tile. The phone clattered to the floor and the glass tipped over as Anne pushed back from the table, already leaping up to make a run for the door.

Two strong hands pulled her back into the chair. A voice that made her shiver whispered in her ear. "Don't scream, doll. Unless you want all your friends to leave in body bags." A small gray cylinder came into her view, along with a rough hand that made the object almost microscopic by comparison. "You see this," the voice said at her ear. "It's a detonator. I had a friend set everything up for me. All I have to do is press the little red button on top and this shack and everyone in it gets blown into the next county. Understand?"

Well. This explained what had Mik so worked up. "What do you want, David?" she hissed between her teeth, her eyes never leaving the destructive little toy of his.

His other hand on her shoulder slowly tightened its grip. "With your lack of respect, you're lucky I'm giving you another chance," he said menacingly.

"Who says I want one?" She would have spit in his face if she could turn around. "I've already told you, I'm not interested."

The hand on the detonator tensed, nearly crushing it. His thumb moved almost spasmodically to set it off. Anne resisted holding her breath. She would just have to rely on the hope that he wasn't insane enough to kill himself. She didn't give any reaction when his hand relaxed.

"You're going to regret those words," he stated with any eerie calm. "I'm a key member of the Red Soldiers."

"Oh, yes, I almost forgot about your little secret club," she said with scorn. "So what? Did they make you treasurer or something?"

His hand fisted around the detonator slammed onto the table in front of her. "Do not mock us!" he yelled, obviously not realizing he might wake someone up. "Your pacifist princess has turned everyone into a bunch of scared rabbits, but we're going to lead the world back to its warrior's glory! The Red Soldiers are going to change the world!"

He let go of the detonator with the intention of turning her to face him. He barely heard her murmur "bad move" before her elbow jammed into his throat. Staggering back, he choked on air as well as surprise. He'd never thought for a moment that she'd actually fight back.

For her own part, Anne was just as surprised. Where the hell had that come from? She only let herself dwell on it for second, though, before she spun around to grab the detonator and bolt out of the room. But apparently, that second had cost her. David managed to grab her and fling her across the kitchen like a rag doll. Her back slammed into the counter and she crumbled to the floor.

Everything blurred into slow motion. At sometime, the flashlight must have rolled from the table to the floor, and now it was shinning in her eyes. She could see David's feet come toward her, could hear the thud from his boots. Her back seemed to be throbbing and numb at the same time.

She noticed detachedly that the rain had stopped. How ironic, at a time when thunder and lightning would have fit the situation. A pounding came from somewhere above her, like a small stampede. Cool air floated in from the back door.

And her fingers were still curled around the detonator. Well she couldn't let him have it. 

And time sped up again.

Ignoring the pain that nearly blinded her, she pulled herself up and raced to the knife block a few feet down the counter. She gripped a knife between her fingers and whirled to face David again in one move.

And she gaped as David fell unconscious to the floor. A broken chair landed a second later as her eyes darted up to the man standing over him. Tall, blond, blue-eyed; definitely one of the Marren twins, and since Richard Marren was David's best friend, she was going on a hunch as to who her savior was.

"Mik?" she asked in a small voice. His gaze shot up from David. His eyes were terrified. "Mik, what's going on?"

He seemed to stare straight through her. "They'll kill me." He dropped his head again.

"What?" she asked quietly. She started to move toward him, when she realized she still held the knife above her head. Looking up, she stared at it. The blade was positioned between her index finger and her thumb, like she had been ready to throw it. Well, of course, that was ridiculous. It just proved how panicked she had been, to think she could actually throw a knife with any kind of accuracy.

Anne collapsed and the knife clattered across the floor just as Nikki rushed into the room, with Alex and Sylvie right behind her. Nikki took one look, whirled back, and yelled, "Someone call an ambulance! And the police!" before she slammed the door. She rushed to her sister just seconds after Sylvie. "Alex, watch those two," she ordered, pointing to Mik and David. "Sylvie, go to the door. Don't let anyone in."

"I'm the medic here," Sylvie stated, examining Anne for any injuries. "You guard the door." Nikki hesitated only a second before standing up.

When her back was to the door, she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Mik. "What happened?"

"I came in for a glass of water," Anne said from her position on the floor. She had already tried sitting up and decided the pain wasn't worth it at the moment. "The unconscious one is David Ryans. He surprised me. We didn't get to what he actually wanted. The one in shock is Mikael Marren and I'm pretty sure he just saved our lives."

With a little difficulty, Anne managed to pry her fingers open to reveal the detonator in her hand. "David said he had someone wire the house to explode."

Sylvie gasped, terrified, and shot to her feet. Alex wrapped his arms around her. "Could anyone else be around to finish the job?" he asked.

"No," Mik spoke up. "David came alone. Bragged that he'd call everyone from Cancun in a few days. With Anne."

Nikki obviously resisted the urge to pulverize the body on the floor. Grinding her teeth together, she said in as civilized a tone as she could manage, "And just how do you fit into all of this Mr. Marren?"

"I came to warn Anne. When I got here I… I had to stop him." His head finally came up. He met the others eyes pleadingly. "They'll kill me. If they find out I stopped David, that I went against a superior, the Soldiers will execute me for treason."

As the others stared at him, trying to find a response, Anne pushed herself up enough to lean against the cabinets. "Then you weren't here," she stated simply.

"What?" Nikki asked in disbelief.

Anne looked at her sister. "Mik was never here. Someone else hit David with the chair. He just saved our lives. The least we can do is this one favor." Her gaze went to Mik again. "You'd better leave now. And if I were you, I'd stay away from the Red Soldiers, whoever they are."

Mik waited to hear some opposition to this, but none came. As he headed out the door he mumbled, just barely loud enough for the others to hear, "It's not that easy."

Location: Unknown

The tension in the room was palpable. The uniformed youth couldn't resist the urge to tug at his collar. He really wished someone would say something, anything. He especially wished they'd just dismiss him. The men in this room always gave him the creeps. Luckily, at the moment, all four seemed to have lost interest in him.

The one leaning against the wall in the corner had closed his eyes, thankfully. He had these almost unnatural piercing green eyes that always seemed to be watching from behind a curtain of stringy, black hair. He never talked, and his face never showed any expression except solid granite. No one seemed to know anything about him, not even his name.

That wasn't true of the second young man sitting in a chair with an almost bored air. He was Mark Proski, and he looked and acted completely insane. Most of his features were unremarkable, except for giant pale blue eyes ringed in amber. He'd also made it known that he liked to blow things up, even if they were living; sometimes, especially if they were living. It was rumored that he'd grown up in a weapons testing facility and that the fumes and explosions had fried a few choice brain cells.

Along with David Ryans, they were the only ones in the Red Soldiers to hold the rank of Lieutenant Commander, the third highest rank in the Soldiers, though no one was really sure why. They never seemed to do anything. There were whispers going around that the Lt. Commanders were part of some secret plan, but there hadn't been anything to back it up, and no one dared ask.

The comparatively normal looking, brown-haired, brown-eyed man standing near the desk at the front of the room seemed lost in thought. Second Commander Luke Marske was starting to look more calculating of late, and he always seemed to be on edge. He had a well-known temper and at times seemed rather strange, but he also seemed human, which made most of the Red Soldiers more loyal to him than the mission.

As for Supreme Commander Victor Lazarus, he sat leaning back in the chair behind the desk with what had to be the most unaffected expression in the Earth Sphere. His hair was slicked back from his face, his eyes were a crystal shade of blue, and he was always completely calm. In fact, he could have been a black-haired Treize Khushrenada. Except where Treize had always had some kind of knowing and remorseful air, Victor just didn't seem to be all there.

"Ryans is a moron!"

The outburst from the Second Commander caused the young Soldier to jump. The others regarded the SC with disinterest.

"Calm down Marske," said Lazarus. He spared a glance at the fidgeting boy near the door, before returning his gaze to the emblem on the wall. "You're dismissed, Major Rowen."

The major let out a sigh of relief before he could stop himself. He snapped off a salute, turned heel, and nearly ran out of the room.

'Scared kid,' Luke thought, before turning his attention back to the situation. He stated again, "Ryans is a moron. And so is Proski, for that matter," he said, glaring at the blond.

Proski's eyes narrowed dangerously. "If you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all."

Luke didn't even blink at the weird comment. The man was crazy and that was that. "You rigged that house with explosives for Ryans. Do you have any idea how many problems this has caused? You attempted to murder at least twenty people!"

The Lt. Commander merely shrugged and stretched out his short, rail-thin frame. "People die in wars."

"We're not at war yet," Luke growled.

"Both of you, stop," Lazarus commanded calmly. "We are all on the same side here. Lt. Commander Ryans is one of our best. His passion and loyalty made him an excellent choice for the project and the mission. However, he has acted extremely irresponsibly and will have to be disciplined."

'He sounds like he's talking about a disobedient student,' thought Luke with something close to amazement. What had happened to Vic? The young soldier he'd known had had spirit, even if he was somewhat confused. But then, Vic had been sent out to fight for OZ again, and Luke didn't have contact with him for over a year. And then Vic had seemingly dropped out of the blue and offered his old friend the position of Second Commander in a secret army he claimed would change the world. Apparently, a lot could happen to a person after a war and a year.

Returning to the present, Luke asked with barely suppressed sarcasm, "What about the project? We just lost one of the key players. Should we count on Ryans not participating?"

Lazarus contemplated this a moment. "No. Continue with the project as planned. And implement plan 3-7-9. Inform Danielle Ryans that she has been promoted to Lt. Commander."

Luke resisted the urge to grind his teeth together. "Yes sir."

"Regardless of Ryans' loyalties, with the Preventers being called in, our existence has more than likely become known."

The calm, unfeeling statement from the man in the corner caused Luke to jerk. Very few people managed to make him nervous, but Drake Wickham had topped that list upon the very first meeting. There were so many things about him that just didn't seem right.

Drake continued, "We can't be sure how much information the Preventers already have or will obtain."

"I see," Lazarus commented. "What do you recommend we do?"

The reply was instantaneous. "Kill Ryans."

"Can I do it?" Mark asked. The question was not meant as a joke.

"No," the Commander said evenly. "We shall not draw more attention to the situation than necessary. We shall just wait and see."

"In that case," Luke spoke up, "you may want to inform the Soldiers in the area to leave Ryans' victims alone. We don't want any more trouble."

"See to it at once."

Not seeing any point in continuing the conversation, Luke left without a word or glance at any of them. As he made his way down the deserted hall a small smirk appeared on his face. Ryans may be a moron, but the moron was starting to get his work done for him.

When he'd first been approached about the Red Soldiers, he hadn't wanted anything to do with the organization. He hadn't wanted anything to do with fighting or anything remotely resembling what he considered his unforgivable past life. But Vic hadn't stayed long enough to hear it and only left a number for Luke to call if he was interested. He'd nearly shredded the paper before he'd realized one startling fact.

Even if he didn't join, Vic would just continue in his plan to "change the world" and that idea didn't sit well with Luke. The world was already changed for the better and this was just the way he liked it. Because it was just the way she would have liked it. He couldn't let someone destroy her peace, even if she wasn't around to enjoy it. She wouldn't…

Luke stopped and closed his eyes tiredly.

She wouldn't want him to just sit back and let it happen. She'd want to stop the Red Soldiers. And he was going to make sure that they were stopped.

He started resolutely down the hall again.

It was time to implement the half-formed backup plan that had been circling his head for the past weeks. He was lucky suspicions hadn't been raised about him already and he wasn't going to rely completely on luck. Of course, Rose knew what was going on, but he needed someone else on the outside capable of protecting the world just in case he failed. And at the moment, ESUN's defenses wouldn't have been enough to stop even 1/4 of Vic's forces.

Which left him with a problem. Civilians couldn't be trusted or believed, by him or the authorities. The bureaucrats would more than likely panic, and the media would go into a frenzy if they got this information. He needed someone to beef up security without doing anything rash. Which meant he'd just have to go straight to the top.

Luke smirked. He'd have to be careful, but he knew just the lady to call. Vic should have known better than to ever bring the Rogue into this.


	2. Chapter 1: Repetition

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A New Chapter

By Angie Tempete

Things to know: Okay, for anyone who was waiting for me to continue this story, you must have the patience of…well, something really, really patient. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update, and the only explanation I can give is laziness fueled by writer's block, and a full schedule senior year of high school. That basically drained all the creativity out of me, and anything I tried to write was crap. But I will finish this, so hang in there.

Other things to know: Of course I don't own Gundam Wing or its characters. But this is my fanfic, so I've named the former Cinq capital Espoir (French for hope) and Preventer HQ is in Rome (I just put it there, don't know why). And most of the cities mentioned were picked by closing my eyes and pointing at a map. And the Earth Sphere/ESUN includes Earth, the colonies, and any settlement off earth, like Mars. At least in this story. And…never mind…hope you like.

****

Chapter 1: Repetition

_The year is After Colony 199. It's been four years since the Gundams first landed in Operation Meteor; three since the Barton family continued the waltz. The Gundams have been destroyed, and any information about the Gundams and their pilots has been collected, classified and kept under the careful watch of the Preventer Commander, Lady Une. The Preventers hold the only military mobile suits as the national peacekeeping force of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation. According to the optimists, true peace has finally been achieved. However, criminal activities across the globe have been escalating at a startling rate, and Commander Une has assigned Wufei Chang and Sally Po as agents in charge of investigating the rumors and incidents that are quickly spinning out of control._

September 22

Location: Rome

__

…refused to comment on the allegations against him. A Senate committee will begin its investigation into Senator Argent's dealings with the criminal organization, Le Rouge, on Monday. In other…

NNR, National News Radio, broadcasting from Brussels, continued to drone on through the tiny earpiece. Sally Po only half listened to it; her other ear picked up the sounds of the streets. Motorists honked angrily at bicyclists and pedestrians weaving in and out of cars in a near standstill. Televisions seen through open doors showed the current soccer/football/whatever game. People yelled, laughed and just generally lived as she walked past the mix of ancient, old and modern that made up the city. Every now and then, a gap in the buildings added some world famous monument to the skyline. If she walked around for a while, she'd eventually catch a glimpse of the Tiber River, maybe even the crumbling stones that used to be the Colosseum. 

She had no idea who had decided to stick Preventer HQ in Rome, but the person obviously had an appreciation for culture, people and cities. Then again, maybe not. It could've just been the location.

'All roads lead to Rome,' she thought with a half-smile and readjusted the backpack hanging from her shoulder. In the past ten minutes alone, she'd heard at least 11 different languages from passerby.

Or it could be the fact that Rome was the European region's capital, housing the second ranking ESUN Senate house. All the continental regional capitals had these back-up Senate houses that were used mainly for special conferences and meetings. The rankings basically stated that if the ESUN capital of Brussels was turned into radioactive dust, whatever was left of the national government would set up shop in Rome, then Chicago, and so on.

__

…update on last week's bombing spree in Paris. Preventers report that the bombs, planted in three separate locations-a bank, an apartment building, and a public street-were homemade and are most likely the work of an individual or small group. The explosions…

Sally didn't bother paying close attention. It was old news to her, as she'd been in charge of the Preventers handling that investigation two days ago. She had passed the case on to Agents Duo Maxwell and Hilde Schbeiker, since the bombings, while tragic and top priority, were not a national threat and so needed to be delegated to someone not so focused on those type of threats. In truth, it seemed like she spent more time delegating than actually working.

And just to help matters, that had been the second emergency that had cut into her vacation in the past week. The first had been a bad feeling of Une's about a mass murder attempt on the west-

A small-scale riot erupted around heras she stumbled forward, causing a domino effect. She ignored the "colorful" shouts of other innocent bystanders in favor of glaring at the back of the man who had shoved past her and several others as he sprinted down the sidewalk… and plowed into a lanky teenage boy with headphones.

The kid looked like he was apologizing profusely as he helped the man up, dusting off his coat. The man shouted a few angry words in what sounded like Spanish, then continued off at a mad sprint. The kid stared after him for a minute or two, fumbling with his own jacket, before heading straight for the disarray on the sidewalk. As he passed a few of the people, he handed them something, quickly making his way toward Sally and receiving incredulous stares.

Sally readjusted her backpack and studied the teenager: something was strange. He looked normal enough… by adolescent standards anyway. On the tall side, thin but not skinny and unremarkable features. Wire-framed glasses, relatively clean clothes and spiked brown hair with blue tips. Average teenager. But perhaps the difference was in his expression; he seemed to laugh without twitching an eye.

And in the span of one minute the kid was passing her, handing her…her wallet?! She stared at him, then managed to mumble, "Thank you...um?"

"The name's Frankie, and it's no problem, Ms. Po." And then he was gone, weaving through the streets to be lost in the crowd.

'What a nice- wait a second, how did he know my name?' A quick search in her wallet provided the answer, which more inventive shouts around her were confirming: everything was in place, except for 50 credits. 'Damn, he must have gotten 500 from this crowd,' she thought, watching a woman with a rather dangerous looking cane run after the boy, screaming in Italian. Sally didn't bother; if "Frankie" was good enough to pick the pocket of another pickpocket, act like a good Samaritan and move along before anyone was the wiser, he sure wasn't going to stick around to watch the fireworks.

Sally could deal with losing 50 credits, since he hadn't touched her cards or her identification. 'And he was even nice enough to leave me a 10 for lunch,' she thought with a wry smile and a sigh. 

"I'm late."

It looked like Une was tightening security again, Sally noticed as she eyed the lobby inside HQ. Compared to two weeks ago there were at least double the Preventers stationed on "guard" duty, more security cameras than an entire space port and the new intimidating weapon detectors looked straight out of a sci-fi film. She raised an eyebrow.

"Almost gives new meaning to the word paranoid, doesn't it."

Sally glanced at the dark-haired woman over her shoulder. "Well that depends. What'd I miss, Noin?"

The Preventer tilted her head to the side; her close-cropped purple-black hair falling over one eye. "You know, you really shouldn't leave your mobile here just to irritate Wufei."

"I was on vacation. And besides," she added with a glint in her blue eyes, "it's funny to watch him react the same way every time."

Lucrezia Noin shook her head. "Only you would find an irate Wufei Chang amusing," she said as she made her way through security.

Sally followed after her. "And just what is that supposed to mean?" she asked, not sure if she should feel insulted.

Noin chose not to answer. In the year since she had returned from Mars, she'd noticed how the previously placid and unshakeable Sally had taken a turn toward… well, the dark side. Noin grinned at the thought. The blond was still unshakeable; however, her calm, slightly detached attitude had loosened up a bit and even wavered every now and then in favor of hurling objects in the general direction of whatever was annoying her at the time. Wufei's reaction time had, if anything, increased since 196.

Sally sighed at the lack of response. "Can you at least tell me what made the Lady panic?" she asked as an apologetic Preventer rifled through her backpack.

"I was in Brussels at the time, but two days ago, Une arrived and found a large metal box on her desk that looked like it was made out of titanium. There was a timer on the top counting down, and some joker wrote BOOM, with big capital letters, exclamation points, the works."

"A joker with a sick sense of humor," Sally commented.

Noin nodded her head in agreement. "It had three seconds left when Une found it. Your partner was there, too."

At the mention of Chang, Noin noticed that her former partner had started glaring into space with such intensity, that the 40-year-old Preventer checking Sally's ID fumbled with the card three times before managing to give it back. Sally's grip on the piece of plastic would have broken the thing if she hadn't suddenly jammed it into her pack. She stalked halfway to the elevator, then whirled around, arms crossed, and tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Noin to catch up.

"Well? What happened?" Her tone was nearly snapping. "I assume the thing didn't go off since HQ is still standing."

"Oh it went off all right."

Sally's brows shot up, but she said nothing. Noin's dark purple eyes glinted in amusement, but Sally brushed that off.

"The clock hit zero and there was an explosion… of flowers."

Sally nearly choked. "Flowers?!"

"Dead flowers, to be exact."

"Somebody is seriously sick in the head!"

"Where the hell have you been Po?!" a new voice joined the two. A rather angry looking Chinese man with black hair pulled back in a tight, short ponytail stalked out of an elevator and across the floor. People scattered out of his path, looking frightened and interested at the same time. The Po-Chang battles were becoming somewhat legendary within the Preventers.

Sally whirled again, her sandy blond braids flying over her shoulders. "Don't swear at me, _Chang_! I'm _not_ in a good mood!" As he reached her, she silently cursed her choice of tennis shoes that morning. Without her boots, he was good three inches taller than her 5'6". "And I've been on vacation! Or did you not understand that concept when I said I was leaving?"

"You're supposed to remain in contact! Not go wandering off into oblivion! Not with the responsibility you hold in the Preventers."

"Maybe I just didn't feel like listening to your nagging!" she shot back at him, her voice becoming louder. "And don't talk to me about responsibility! I cut my vacation short to go to Paris, and I questioned that chauvinistic psychopath in California just to make sure he wasn't a major threat! Dealing with one jackass at a time is enough!"

After a moment of tense silence, Wufei decided the argument that they'd had several times before was going no where, yet again. "Une's office. Now. The timer's counting down again." With that, he turned and marched back to the elevator, with Sally and Noin on his heels. Needless to say, it was empty, but for the three of them.

_Hello again, Lady Une. _

'It's no less creepy the third time you listen to it than the first,' thought Noin as she shifted in her chair. The voice coming from the tiny timer that had caused such a predicament a couple days ago somehow managed to be mocking, intimidating, and emotionless all at the same time.

__

The package is for credibility; you know who I am, but for this mission, refer to me as Cobra. You wouldn't want to do anything stupid like jeopardizing my plans. You've already been so lax in your department that we have another major threat to the peaceful existence of this government. 

What an insult. Whoever this Cobra was, he obviously wasn't on good terms with Une. And everyone else listening took it as a personal affront. 'Small wonder, considering all but three of us are full-time Preventers.'

After the shock of listening to the message the first time, Une had remained completely in character and ignored every bit of protocol and regulation on threats to national security. She didn't call the "right" people; not the President, the Senate Chair, not even the Minister of Relations. No, she went with her first instinct and called the few people she knew she could trust to help deal with the situation quickly and without letting it blow up in their faces. The Gundam pilots.

__

An organization formed two years ago with one basic goal: the overthrow and/or assassination of what they call the Peacecraft Regime.

That statement caused an increase in grumbling from one man on a vidscreen with a platinum blond ponytail. After the message had been played a second time, it had been agreed that the Trade Representative from the Mars Project ought to know. Though he used the name Zander Dominy these days, he still was a Peacecraft by blood.

Noin felt the tiniest amount of tension leave as she thought of her husband. He really had loosened up in past years, and it was reflected in a rather…new style. For one thing, he was less Trieze-like. The seriousness, the detachment required in war wasn't necessary anymore. In fact, all of them had changed in one way or another, Noin thought, though Zechs probably had the most drastic change in his outer appearance. He now sported a short ponytail, glasses, and had even tried a goatee at one time. Her laughter had reduced her to tears. Zechs never went a day without shaving now. She still liked to tease him that he was getting hair care tips from Wufei. He had enough of a sense of humor by now to put hot pink dye in her shampoo.

Although, at the moment, that humor wasn't showing through. You couldn't blame him though. "Assassination of the Peacecraft Regime" didn't really bode well for anyone.

__

That would be nearly every top ESUN official in the central government in Brussels, and they've got the Minister of Relations pegged as number one on their hit list. They call her the "delusional, deceptive child who has made the world shun the soldiers who fought in the past."

'You can practically feel their eyes burning holes through the recording,' Noin thought with an internal shiver as she watched the faces in the room. 'Though I've probably got the same look myself. And who can blame us! She did nothing less than everything in her power to stop the wars, and if it wasn't for her, Earth and the colonies would have fallen into complete anarchy after OZ and Romefeller fell. She's the only reason the new government got up and running so quickly, and then she refused everything except the most powerless of jobs. Hell, Minister of Relations is really just a glorified PR agent with a Senate vote. Relena may have the ear of the President and half the Senate, but she's not some schemer determined to lead the world by the nose.'

__

That's their main statement anyway; they've made dozens of other promises. That's how their numbers have grown to what you can be sure is a substantial amount. 

What a vague and terrifying statement that was.

__

They also have the weaponry to equip those soldiers. I would watch weapons and mobile suit materials more closely if I were you. 

Again, vague and terrifying. Not to mention uncomfortable that it had slipped right under their noses. Wufei had been the first to point out that this could all be some hoax, but it seemed Cobra's credibility ran deeper than any of them knew. Which was why his next words struck so hard.

__

And I would suggest higher security around Minister Darlain. Many of the men have delusions of glory and think they can become the heroes of the soldiers. I know you will try to find them, but don't. I will deal with the problem myself. In fact, your interference at this stage could very well jeopardize my mission. Their rebellion is scheduled to commence in two years; you will need a far greater defense force than you have now, perhaps even the Gundams if I can't disable the biggest threat in time. Should I decide you need more information, I'll contact you, but don't expect it. They will be stopped one way or another. These people plan to change the world, and we can't let them.

Well he sure knew how to make a speech hit hard. Silence reigned in the room as everyone tried to put a voice to their thoughts.

"I've checked with our records department," Lady Une began, straightening in her chair behind the desk. "In the past two years, weapons and such materials have been disappearing in all parts of the Earth Sphere more and more rapidly. A conservative estimate suggests that their force is about half the size of the Barton Foundation's three years ago, and that's assuming some things were stolen by unrelated terrorist groups or simply misplaced. At the rate they're disappearing, though, their force could be at least three times that by the deadline." 

She paused for a moment to take in the expressions of the others. Calm determination, and perhaps a little anger. Good.

"Assassination attempts against high-ranking ESUN officials, especially those who continually support Relena, are also rising slow and steady. It seems these soldiers won't to stop no matter how many of them get caught."

Noin mentally kicked herself. She'd already known that, and was here in fact to report the increase to Lady Une. As Captain of the Preventer Guards, she stayed mainly in Brussels, running the special division of the Preventers dedicated solely to the protection of the people who ran ESUN. Things were getting so bad lately that Relena could barely take a walk in her own yard without an armed escort.

"So why are we just sitting here?!" Wufei jumped up from his seat, pounding a fist on the chair.

Sally gripped Wufei's arm and pulled him back down. "Cobra said not to interfere. He wouldn't have said that without a valid reason."

"I don't care about his reasons," Wufei said through clenched teeth, pulling out of her hold. "A force that size has to be stopped before a war breaks out and the weak, ignorant masses are sent to their deaths."

"We've already decided to believe him. We wouldn't even be listening to this if Lady Une didn't trust his judgment."

"That's correct, Sally; however," Une stated, holding up a hand to prevent any interruptions, "I myself cannot simply sit back and ignore this. For the moment, we will be following…Cobra's advice, but we'll have our own rules." She waited for any comment but heard none. 

"Rule one: this is privileged information and is not to be revealed to anyone, unless I approve it first." Everyone nodded.

"Rule two: any information is to be reported immediately, and no move is to be made against the enemy without my approval. I will not tolerate anyone taking action on their own."

"And just what actions are we supposed to take if we aren't interfering?" Duo asked, with a hint of sarcasm.

The corner of Une's mouth tilted slightly. "We will not be interfering…directly. We will instead be focusing on preparation and surveillance. Agents Po and Chang," she said, turning to the two in her office. "You will still hold your current assignments, however, this situation is now top priority. Chang will be in charge of the weapons thefts. I want to know how they got out, where they went, and why this was not reported earlier."

Wufei seemed slightly mollified by the task that would most likely involve kicking somebody's ass and merely gave a grunt of confirmation.

"Agent Po, you will accompany Captain Noin back to Brussels to investigate assassination attempts, successful and failed, in the past two years. Find any similarities, anything that can link even just two of them back to an unknown group. I also want a reevaluation of security measures currently in place for ESUN officials. Your reports and recommendations will be on my desk by Monday. Until permanent changes are made, I'm trusting your judgment, Captain, to see that appropriate measures are taken."

"Yes ma'am."

"Our next step is to develop a defense strong enough to counter this new threat. In our current state we are in no position to subdue a large force that is well-equipped and well-trained, and we will assume they are both until we have concrete evidence otherwise. We'll have two main facilities, one on Earth, the other in space, for both construction of mobile suits and advanced training of new recruits. We will also-" 

The others watched, some with concern, when Une cut herself off, taking a deep breath. Her gaze traveled over the faces before her, lingering on a certain five. Her voice had lost the hard edge when she continued. "I'm going to have to ask something of you that you should never have had to face again." The expressions on those faces became even more sober, if that was even possible. Everyone knew what was coming. "Understand that this is a request, not an order, and you have every right to refuse, but," there was another short pause, "I will be taking Cobra's last bit of advice. I need to know which of you are willing to pilot the Gundams again."

"Mission accepted." Heero hadn't even paused to think about it.

"I'm a Preventer," Wufei stated with no small amount of pride or superiority in his tone. "I will do my duty."

Duo could be seen pulling his feet off his desk at his end of the connection. "I'm in."

Trowa gave one short nod.

Quatre drew a breath, then followed Trowa's example.

The silence lasted only a few seconds. When Une continued, the Commander was back in her voice. "Good. We'll be putting together a team of top engineers, based on MOII, for the reconstruction. I want the five of you to work with them. Report to MOII within two weeks. You'll also be reviewing new mobile suit designs from Research & Development. I'll want your recommendations on our best options." She shifted behind her desk to fully face the wall of vidscreens. "Agent Maxwell."

"Commander Une," he responded, with the air of making a joke.

"How is the investigation in Paris progressing?"

Duo's grim expression broke into something of a smirk. "We arrested the suspect at his apartment an hour ago. Hilde's interrogating him right now."

Une nearly frowned. "I was under the impression that you had no concrete evidence against this man, after your report yesterday."

"Yeah, well, that was before we received the package from someone called Angel."

The Commander's eyes widened as she sat forward in her chair. "Angel contacted you directly?"

Duo wasn't the only one in the room confused by Une's question. "Uh, I wouldn't exactly call it direct when the package was postmarked in about eight countries."

"Have you determined where it originated from?"

"Um, the original postmark was actually from Paris, two days ago, but we spent all night just trying to verify the information, not who sent it. Why? Who's this Angel person? I thought it was a common enough alias."

The questions seemed to snap Une back to herself. She leaned back in her chair. "It doesn't matter. It's not relevant to the situation at hand anyway. What is relevant, is if Agent Schbeiker is capable of completing this investigation without your assistance."

"Yeah, Hilde's capable, she's one of the best."

Une's mouth quirked at Duo's slightly indignant defense of his partner. "I expected no less. Be on MOII by tomorrow."

"Huh?"

"You will be in charge of establishing our space-based operations there, as well as our engineering teams and the construction of the Gundams and our new mobile suits."

He grinned. "So I'm the commanding officer in charge of this whole thing?"

Une's eyebrow lifted. "Over those who have a rank lower than yours in the construction teams, yes."

Duo's expression fell at the news that he would not in fact, be allowed to order the other Gundam pilots around. Wufei, who had been looking horrified, gave his own version of a malicious grin. The other's faces held varying degrees of amusement.

"Agent Yuy." Heero's eyes shot back to Une. "In the future, you will most likely be called on for any direct action taken; however, I am assigning you to MOII as sub-commander of all personnel pertaining to this operation for the time being. I specifically want you in charge of the training of new Preventers."

"Wait! Heero gets to be in charge?! What about me?!"

Une chose to ignore Duo's outburst. "Yuy, I expect you there as soon as the Cinq mission has been secured."

"It's done." Heero seemed to be sporting a self-satisfied smirk.

"Good. Mr. Barton." As her eyes shifted again, she noted that even if the situation was rather dire, it was still rather amusing that Trowa Barton, with his gravity defying hair and completely composed expression, was wearing clown make-up. But amusement aside, "I'm going to assume that you are willing to become a full-time Preventer now. For now, you will be working with Agents Yuy and Maxwell. Once operations in space are established, you will be relocated and put in charge of the Earth-based facility. Report to MOII as soon as possible, your security clearance will be waiting for you there."

Since he had already agreed to help, Trowa saw no point in repeating himself and remained impassive. Une moved on. "Mr. Winner-"

"Lady Une, I'm sorry," Quatre cut her off, running a nervous hand through his already disheveled blond hair. The Commander seemed a little put out at being interrupted but waited for the young man to continue. "I know I said I would pilot the Gundam again, and I will hold to that promise as well as helping in any way I can. But you must know that I can't just pick up and leave Winner Enterprises, especially now when things are so unstable."

The room was silent for only a moment. "Alright Mr. Winner, I understand. I still request that you join the others on MOII within two weeks to assist with the preliminary stages of this operation, but only if you can do so without endangering your company. The Preventers will be looking to Winner Enterprises to expand their contract with us once permission is given from the Senate to increase ESUN's defense forces. Your contacts in the business and political worlds may also prove useful in the future."

"I'll see if I can get away for a few weeks," he said, sounding rather tired, "but I can't promise more than that."

"That'll do."

"How are you gonna get the Senate to expand the military forces without letting them know about all this?" Duo wanted to know, his feet once again propped up on his desk. One hand absently played with the end of his dark brown braid, while the other tapped a rather erratic beat on the desktop that was beginning to make Wufei twitch.

"That issue will be addressed at the ESUN Security Conference in October."

Duo smirked. "Meaning you haven't got a clue."

"Duo!" The wholly unexpected female shout caused Duo to lose his precarious balance and he toppled backward, out of the camera's view with a resounding crash. "Show some respect! She is our Commander after all." All eyes were turned towards Duo's screen as his black-haired, blue-eyed partner came into view.

"Hilde?" Duo's voice was incredulous and his head popped up. "What are you doing in here?!"

Agent Hilde Schbeiker had the presence of mind to look slightly sheepish. "Eh…eavesdropping?"

Several snorts were heard, as well as a distinct, "Obviously Maxwell can't even lock a door," from Zechs.

"Schbeiker, I'm not even going to ask why you are listening in on this meeting instead of questioning your suspect-"

"Because the asshole wouldn't stop calling me what I think roughly translates as slutty bitch. And that's the nice version," Hilde replied promptly. "He's going to think about his behavior while sitting in his cell with annoying Disney songs blasting in his ears," she ended with an evil smile.

Une looked at the younger woman oddly for a moment, as did most of the others. "I said I wasn't going to ask. I am going to order you to keep silent on anything you've heard here."

"Of course, Commander, but I've got a suggestion about something you might have overlooked."

Both of Lady Une's eyebrows raised. "And what would that be, Agent Schbeiker?" Slight emphasis seemed to be placed on _Agent_.

"That their first target is Relena Darlain. That's how they're going to change the world, by killing her. And no one on her Guard unit has any clue that she's in that immediate a danger, plus the fact that Relena won't even let you assign a full-time bodyguard."

Une considered a moment, blocking any comments that might be made by the others. "A valid point. Thank you for volunteering as the Minister of Relations' new bodyguard. Report to Captain Noin in Brussels as soon as the Paris investigation is complete. I leave it up to the both of you how to convince the Minister to accept the change."

Hilde didn't seem the least bit surprised. "Yes ma'am."

And as if that was all that needed to be said on the matter, the Commander moved on to her last target.

"Representative Dominy." Zechs' eyes snapped; it was clear he wanted something to destroy. "I'll ask that you remain clear of all operations discussed today." The man's jaw dropped and he attempted to sputter something that sounded suspiciously like "b-b-b", but Une cut him off. "I understand that you leave for the Mars Project in six hours. There is nothing you can do in that time, or in the next six months that you will be off-world, nor am I going to risk a scandal by possibly drawing attention to the fact that Milliardo Peacecraft is still alive. I ask that you keep your eyes and ears open as always, but nothing more. Is that understood, Representative?" The answer came as a grudging nod, and only after a threatening glare from Noin.

"What about Cobra?"

Slowly, Une's gaze narrowed. It didn't matter who had asked the question, the answer was for everyone. "Cobra is none of your concern at the moment. I've already stated that no action will be taken without my direct order. You all have your assignments. Dismissed." One by one, the monitors turned black and the occupants of the room began to file out. "Agent Po, wait a moment."

Sally turned, confused. She barely noticed the nod she gave Wufei to send him on after he had stopped next to her. The door closed with a resounding click and the office was cast into silence. She watched in slight concern as Une picked up the small timer/recording and began turning it over and over in her hands.

"Sally, you're aware of the…incident that occurred two days ago?" Une seemed to sense the nod, even with her eyes fixed on the tiny black rectangle. "Are you also aware of the contents of the box?"

She nodded again, not really understanding where this was leading. "Noin told me it was dead flowers."

Une gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Not just any flowers," she said, shifting her attention to a desk drawer, pulling out an opened package and a small white object which she tossed to Sally. "Lilies." The blond woman's head shot up in shock, then back down to the flower that practically crumbled in her hand. "Hundreds of dead, white lilies."

She brushed her thumb lightly against the withered bloom, watching as tiny red flecks came away. "Were they all painted with red dots?"

"Yes. Every last one. I received this this morning," she said nudging the ordinary package in front of her before gingerly reaching her hand in and pulling out a tattered crimson lily in full bloom. "This was inside, in a small box that I didn't realize was wet with red paint until I picked it up." She put up a hand for Sally to notice the unusual red tint to her palm and fingers. "I don't think it's going to come off any time soon," she noted absently, "but his message is clear enough."

She nodded to the flower resting in Sally's hand, "Even though she had her own bloodstains, she was pure and innocent, and now she's dead, whereas I," she twirled to bloom in her own hand, "I am covered in blood, and yet I still live, with her blood on my hands," she studied the unnatural redness of her fingertips, "and she was worth a hundred times more than me."

"So it's him again," Sally stated softly, bringing Une out of her self-induced daze. "It's Rogue, the same as last time. But why are you trusting him? He hates you, us. He hates the Preventers as a whole because she…died here."

"Yes, he despises us. But if you'll remember, in his last message he said he'd let us remain so long as we kept her peace. And as this is a definite threat to peace, we will be trusting him on this. He is completely devoted to her memory."

"But you can't know that for sure," Sally insisted. "What if he's decided that we aren't necessary for her peace. This whole thing could be setting us up for something."

"By giving us a warning that we should build up our defenses? I don't think so, Sally. We will be trusting Cobra's information. I've only informed you of this because you would inevitably find out about the lilies and I would prefer if this information was not spread beyond the two of us. Now, collect what you need and join up with Noin. Dismissed."

Sally left, knowing any other argument was pointless. 'He despises us,' she turned the thought over in her head, 'because of her. He thinks we don't deserve to live, but he's letting us remain, because of her. Fate has a twisted sense of irony. He respects us because she trusted us, she let us bring her here so that she could help, and he hates us because we let her…die.'

She shook her head, lost in her thoughts. 'Damn, even after nearly two years, I still can't even think it convincingly.'

"What are you mumbling about now, Po?" The indignant voice of her partner brought her back to the hallway outside Une's office. Wufei leaned against the opposite wall, his arms crossed and his eyes wandering down the corridor.

Sally lightly curled her fingers into a fist, then started down the hall. "Just because you're in a bad mood doesn't mean you have to be rude to me."

"Bad mood!" he nearly sputtered. "I am not in a bad mood!"

"You only call me Po when we are completing an assignment or you're upset about something. Since we're not in the field, it's got to be the later."

"Well I have a right to be…upset," he obviously loathed to use such a petty word to describe his emotions. That he was admitting his emotions at all proved just how upset he was. "You drop everything to disappear for weeks with barely a warning, leaving me to handle all our cases and then you don't even take your mobile with you!"

"First of all, Wufei," she stated, her temper rising as she entered their shared office, "I was only gone a week and a half and if you had been listening you would have heard me tell you over a month ago that I was leaving. I didn't take my mobile because I didn't want to be disturbed on my _vacation_, and are you admitting that you can't handle our cases, especially the trivial ones we've had lately, without my help?"

Her superior smirk was getting to him. He didn't realize she'd learned it from him. "What if a real emergency had arisen? Then I would have no way of reaching you."

"Une knows how to contact me if she needs my help. And in fact, she did just that. I only got about four days of vacation before she called me to California, and then to Paris."

"But I'm your partner!"

"And you'd just nag me the entire time," she finished with a smile, having won the argument to her satisfaction. She continued packing up her travel laptop. "Now, Noin and I have to be leaving soon, and you've got some careless Preventers' asses to fry, so get moving."

Wufei remained in the doorway, watching her gather her things, not that she was taking much with her. It was always easier to travel light. His gaze landed on the picture sitting on her desk. It was of the two of them, along with several other Preventers at last year's Halloween "Bash" that she had insisted on dragging him to. Sally had originally put the picture on his desk, but he had refused to let the useless thing clutter up his workspace. So now the picture sat on Sally's desk, facing his. The woman seemed to have some obsession with trying to get around his decisions.

And there was no way he would admit he was going to miss her. For at least the next month, they would be working on different assignments, her in Brussels, him wherever this case might lead before he reported to MOII in two weeks. And who knew how long he would remain there.

He ran a hand over his immaculate hair in a rare show of agitation that surprised Sally. "At least take your mobile this time."

She grinned at him as she pulled the small handheld unit out of her desk, waving the little screen at him before tucking it into her backpack. He frowned at her. It had been more than frustrating when, three days into her vacation he had tried to call her, only to hear the mobile ringing on the other side of the room.

"I'll see you soon, Wufei," she said, as she picked up her things. She laid a hand on his shoulder as she passed by him. "Don't scare too many of the lowly Preventers witless while I'm gone."

He grunted. "Why not?"

Sally grinned at him. "Because why should you have all the fun."

  
  
Location: Colony Q9832, L2

He'd already spoken with the manager. The man was understandably upset that one of his best performers was leaving, but he'd seen that nothing was changing Trowa's mind. He'd agreed to remaining for one week, to give the manager time to come up with someone or something to replace him in the show, but when the circus left this colony for the next the tranquil young man would not be joining them.

All that was left was to inform his sister.

He'd received the call from Une just before the show. The subsequent talk with his manager had lasted a mere five minutes. He'd had plenty of time to inform Catherine before their act, but had decided against it.

She would no doubt be upset and angry at his leaving without any explanation. To say that his sister had an unpredictable temper was putting it politely, and she did not need to be made angry right before she threw knives at him.

The last knife _thunked_ into the board dangerously close to his temple. He paused a moment before stepping away from the wooden circle, his expression unchanged. Something was obviously distracting her; she'd clipped off some of his hair with that last throw.

The applause from the audience was deafening as Trowa and Catherine made their bows in unison. Then they were left in darkness as the spotlights zoomed to the manager in the center ring, announcing the last act, the trapeze artists, that would segue into the grand finale. The brother and sister made their way through the dark to the mayhem of backstage to get in place for the final number.

"What's going on, Trowa?" she asked as she collected her second set of throwing knives. "What aren't you telling me?"

He looked at her in slight surprise. So she had become that good at reading him, that she knew when he was keeping something from her. "I was waiting until after the show to tell you."

"Tell me now." She still wasn't facing him, inspecting her knives as if by pretending what she was about to hear was inconsequential, it wouldn't matter.

Trowa kept his silence for a few moments his eyes never straying from her profile. "I'll be leaving in a week's time," he said simply, watching for her reaction.

Her eyes squeezed shut and her fists tightened around the knife handles. He saw the tension in her stance increase threefold. "To pilot that thing again." His face showed disbelief, or as much disbelief as Trowa ever showed, at her statement. "That's the same tone of voice you used the last time you left, and the time before that," she said in answer to his unspoken question. "And it's the only reason I can think of that you would leave us so suddenly. I understand that you can't reveal any information and there is nothing I can say to keep you from leaving, but," she looked up at him, lavender eyes pleading, "can you at least keep in contact? Just so I know my little brother is all right."

He nodded, and she grabbed the reins of the white horse next to her, swinging herself up on its back. She followed the line of performers in front of her out into the ring, pasting her show smile on her face as her horse began to prance. He watched her for a minute before joining the group of acrobats and clowns waiting for their cue.

Catherine was probably the strongest woman he knew.

  
  
Location: Resource Satellite Colony Gagnant (V13754), L4

Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, they went beyond grave and took a dive into hell. Now he had a threat to national security and the prospect of piloting one of the most dangerous mobile suits in history on top of the fact that half of his competitors, his board of directors and his own family thought he was either too young, too naïve, too idealistic, too inexperienced or just plain wrong for the job of running Winner Enterprises and heading the Winner family. And it was getting to the point that he was beginning to think that they were right. After all, who ever heard of a 19-year-old being CEO of one of the largest corporations in the Earth Sphere?

"Are you just going to sit there all day feeling sorry for yourself?"

Quatre jumped up, knocking his chair over and scattering the papers on his desk. He stared in shock at the woman leaning against the closed door of his office who seemed rather amused by his display of anxiety. He had made a rather dejected picture before, with his head in his hands leaning against the desk and his fingers pushing through his hair in frustration. At least she had succeeded in getting the forlorn expression off his face.

"What are you doing here, Dorothy?" He doubted he could be more surprised. "I thought Minister Darlain was making a tour of Europe."

"She is," Dorothy confirmed, stepping forward and tossing a few errant strands of pale blond hair over her shoulder. "Just because I'm her political advisor does not require me to go everywhere she does. And to tell you the truth, those tours are rather boring. Nothing but speech after speech after speech, with the only distractions being those fools that try to out-maneuver Miss Relena. It gets old after a time."

"You didn't answer my question, Dorothy. What are you doing _here_?"

"Why Quatre, aren't you glad to see me?" she asked, lavender-gray eyes twinkling. When he didn't respond, however, her expression faded and she gave a sigh. "Alright then. I'm sure you've heard of Senator Argent being exposed as the slimy, back-stabbing monster that he is." She waited for his nod. "What you may not be aware of is how his actions have affected Winner Enterprises in particular."

Quatre watched her, his hands on his desk and a small frown forming on his face as she drew a breath and continued. "Several of your higher ranking employees have been on his payroll for months, not to mention at least one board member," she paused, watching his expression darken before she dropped the bomb that would most likely hurt him the most. "And a few of your relatives as well."

He glared at nothing in particular as his knuckles turned white from gripping the desk. "Why?"

Dorothy would have sworn that the one word was a growl if it had been any other man. "Because he wants control of Winner Enterprises. He wants the power that would give him, but he was never going to get it with you as CEO. So he's found those within that could be bribed to start causing unrest, casting doubts on your leadership. He was going to eventually have you replaced with one of his lackeys."

Quatre continued to glare. So this explained why everything had suddenly started falling apart. But for his employees, his co-workers, to turn on him for the sake of money…It would never have occurred to him before. And his own family? How could they do that? He had known that some of them were unhappy when he inherited his father's position instead of those they deemed more experienced, but he had stubbornly believed that they held family loyalty above all else.

"Who?" he asked simply, staring straight at her. "And I want to see your proof."

Dorothy nodded. "That's why we need your cooperation. Argent has been careful on his end of things. If it were anyone else, we would have enough information to have him removed from office and arrested, but he's already called in his lawyers, the best money can buy. They've already started laying waste to our evidence. What we need is a solid source. If the information came from you, they wouldn't be able to refute it. That's why we need you to begin your own investigation into this. I believe you own more than a few well-respected security companies."

"Why do you need me for this? Couldn't the Senate send in its own people?"

"We've already tried that, that's where our problem lies." She ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "Argent has already started attacking the integrity of those investigating."

"He's attacking the integrity of the ESUN Senate committee?" he asked incredulously.

Dorothy shook her head. "Not directly. He's being very subtle about it, and nothing can be definitely traced back to him. But you know he's had it in for the Preventers since he was elected, and the Preventers are the Senate's main source of information against him. Our other sources are generally anonymous or little nobodies. It's like watching our evidence go to a firing squad. That's why we need someone who is in no way officially connected to the Senate or the Preventers."

"But Dorothy, Relena's on that committee and you're directly tied to her and since you gave me this information, they'll tie it back to a conspiracy somehow."

"They can't prove it. And besides, I'm not here in any official capacity, I'm on vacation. The most they can prove is that I've given you a few reasons for suspicion. You'll be doing the investigation without any interference from me."

His expression remained unconvinced, so she continued with a half smirk. "There is nothing against me visiting an acquaintance while I'm on vacation. And the worst that could come out of this visit is a mention in a few of the nosier magazines and tabloids."

"What are you talking about?"

Dorothy's lips stretched into a full Cheshire cat grin. "Why Mr. Winner, don't you know? Only yesterday the list of Most Eligible Bachelors in the Earth Sphere was released." She felt like laughing hysterically when his face blanched. "You've made it in the top five for the second year in a row."

"What!" He grabbed at the magazine she pulled from her side bag as she did a very poor job of hiding her amusement. The cover was a picture of him he vaguely remembered posing for a few weeks ago. His secretary hadn't told him what it was for, only that he had to go. He groaned. "Oh no, not again! It's just barely managed to calm down from last year." And he personally thought the only reason he hadn't been subjected to this torture the year before that, was because he had been a minor.

"This wouldn't be such a surprise if you actually listened to your people in PR from time to time."

Quatre gave her a wry look. "I tend to avoid the PR department at all costs. They're always trying to push me into the public eye and have me marry some nice, socially acceptable girl while I'm at it."

Dorothy raised an eyebrow. "Are we talking about the PR department or your older sisters?"

"My sisters are the PR department."

She lost the battle with her amusement and burst out laughing.

"I'm glad you find the agony of my life so entertaining."

She had to lean against the desk or risk falling to the floor. Quatre waited for her to regain her composure and watched, half amused half irritated, as she wiped at the corners of her eyes. She straightened, still smiling, and gave him a little nod. She pulled a fat folder from her bag and handed it to him. "This is the list of people in your company we have evidence against. That evidence is in there as well."

He accepted the file, nodding. "How long are you on the colony?" he asked.

"I leave tomorrow afternoon."

"Then I'll take you to dinner tonight. As long as you don't have other plans of course." He had the satisfaction of shocking her into silence for a moment before her wry smile reappeared.

"Quatre, are you _trying _to give those tabloids something to write about?"

"There is nothing against me taking a friend to dinner."

"Of course. You have my mobile number, I'll see you tonight." She headed to the door, not pausing as she continued. "I'll leave you to beginning the investigation, and may I recommend that you give your PR department, or your sisters, whichever the case may be, instructions that you should be informed the next time you make headlines in the media."

As she reached the door, he began to right his chair, his mind already on steps that needed to be taken, calls that had to be made. He called out an absent goodbye when he heard the knob turn.

"Goodbye, Quatre. And do try to think up a good excuse for your trip to MOII."

Quatre tried to frown but didn't quite succeed. As far as parting shots went, her grin and little wave was much better than his, "You know, it's impolite to eavesdrop, Dorothy."

  
  
Location: Paris

"Just what did you think you were doing, Hilde?" Duo was practically shouting at her, and she was ignoring him in a practiced manner, like she had done the same thing a hundred times before. And she probably had. They headed down the corridor, towards the cell where there suspect was being tortured, according to Hilde, with annoying Disney songs.

"Come on, Hilde, talk to me!"

He really wasn't that upset that she had listened in. In fact, it saved him from trying to keep the secret from her, something he wasn't sure he could do. After all, Hilde was relentless, and she would have dragged the entire meeting out of him before he even knew what hit him. No the real reason he was upset was his partner's new assignment.

"Why in the world did you volunteer to guard Relena? You know what kind of people are after her. You're putting yourself directly in the line of fire!"

Hilde stopped and looked at him with eyebrows raised. "Duo, I'm a Preventer. My entire job is about being in the line of fire. It's the same job description as yours. Besides," she added continuing down the hall at a faster pace, "did you really think I was just going to sit by and do nothing? With the five of you up in space, Relena needs to have someone guarding her, especially now. I happen to consider her a friend, Duo, and I'm not going to disobey the Commander's orders just to stay somewhere I'm less likely to get hit. I don't abandon my friends like that."

Oh shit, now he'd gone and insulted her. He'd have to tread carefully here. "I didn't mean that, babe." He winced even before she glared at him. "Hilde! I meant to say Hilde! I know your name is Hilde." She seemed to accept that, but she continued walking and glaring at him at the same time. "What I meant before was that…" oh no, what did he mean? It had to be something that wouldn't make her mad again. "That I don't like you going into danger without me to back you up. You're my best friend and my partner. I don't want you getting hurt." There, that sounded reasonable. And now that he thought about it, it was actually the truth, too. Hey, double points!

She looked at him for a moment, before shifting her gaze ahead of her again. "I can understand that Duo, especially since it works both ways. Did you stop to think that for the next two years, I won't be able to back you up? You're going to be on MOII and then you're going to pilot again. I've got to have some kind of mission in that time, Duo. I've got to feel like I'm doing something important. Besides, I don't feel like trying to find a new partner."

He kept pace with her, trying to remember why he had been upset in the first place. Damn it, she knew exactly how to diffuse an argument and leave him feeling like slime for starting it.

"Listen, Hilde, um…I'm not really sure why I did it in the first place, but I'm sorry for yelling at you."

She nodded. "Apology accepted, Duo. Now let's concentrate on this case and see if we can't wrap something up before dinner. I'm really getting sick of chips and soda."

"Okay. So what did you get out of him? Has he said why he did it?"

"Nope," she shook her head. "I think he may just be one of those crazies. The first two bombings are easy enough to figure out. He was fired from the bank, the first target, two weeks ago. Security guard. He was living in the apartment building up until last week, when the landlord kicked him out for being two months late with the rent. That was the day before the first bombing, it may have been the trigger."

"So why the open street?"

"I don't know. I spent half an hour trying to get it out of him but he kept grinning and saying a bitch like me would never understand." The angry expression on her face was mirrored by her partner.

"Maybe he'll be more polite with my fist in his face."

Hilde sighed, "Duo, as much as I would love to see that, don't bring on a lawsuit."

They found one of the guards missing at the cell. "Mac, where's Andrew?"

"Inside. The suspect asked for a pen and paper just after you left. He said you'd be really interested in what he had to write. Andrew's making sure he doesn't stab himself with the pen."

Hilde nodded and opened the door, vaguely apprehensive about whatever had caused this change in the belligerent, uncooperative man she had left 20 minutes ago.

The room was completely bare. The beige walls were hard and unbroken by windows. One florescent light glared from the high ceiling and the red light from the surveillance camera blinked in the corner. High-pitched voices poured out of the small player next to the door.

The occupants of the room were rather more interesting. Andrew stood just inside the door, his gaze fixed on the prisoner, one hand on his comm. unit, the other on his holster. The prisoner was a rather drab looking man with thinning hair and a bushy mustache. He was sitting on the floor, hunched protectively over what Hilde assumed was the paper he had requested, since his position prevented anyone from seeing it clearly. When she stepped into the room, he looked up at her for a second and grinned before going back to his project.

Duo stood next to her, surveying the scene. He glanced at Hilde, who gave him a nod.

"Well, Robert, how's it going?" he asked the suspect casually, his thumbs hooked on his pockets.

"_Robaire_," the man mumbled towards the floor. "My name is pronounced _Robaire_. Stupid American."

Hilde put a restraining hand on Duo's chest as he made a move towards _Robaire_. She reached down and hit the stop button on the player and couldn't help but note that a good deal of tension left Andrew's posture. _Robaire_ didn't seem to notice.

"Are you ready to talk politely now?"

He finished whatever he was writing with a flourish and tossed the pen at Andrew's feet. He folded the paper in half and sat back, stretching and yawning as if he'd been asleep for ten years. When his eyes fell on Hilde, he grinned like she was his best friend and he knew a secret he wasn't going to share just yet. "Preventer Agent Ma'am! Hello again! You know, I don't believe I caught your name last time."

"I didn't give it."

"Ahh." He nodded solemnly, turned back to his paper and began folding, making the page smaller and smaller. "Am I ready to talk now, you ask? You mean about how the world is rather small, after all? I think our dear friend Mr. Guard has heard enough of that particular subject."

Hilde rolled her eyes as the man continued folding the paper. She vaguely remembered the girls in junior high would fold up notes to their friends like that, but it was rather disturbing to watch a grown man attempt it. Obviously _Robaire_ wasn't all there.

"You know, _Robert_?" Duo put emphasis on the mispronunciation. "I think it might do you some good to talk to us. Get it off your chest, you know. All we want to know is why you blew up the street. We know everything else."

__

Robaire glared at him, his hands finally still. Then he grinned and flung the little square of paper at Duo's forehead. The Preventer caught it easily, making the suspect frown again. "You think you understand? You understand nothing." A gruesome smile stretched his face again. "But maybe you'll understand a little after you read my note." He ended on a wide yawn as Duo began unfolding the paper, Hilde focusing on the little square as well.

__

SNAP!!

At the sickening crack, the gazes of the Preventers shot back to their suspect. He was grinning at them widely, a small stream of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He gave an audible swallow and lay back on the floor, staring at the ceiling with a dreamy look on his face. "Ahh…the world turns and the world changes," he said, his words gurgling out, "and nothing will ever be the same."

Duo and Hilde watched, horrified as a greenish-brown substance bubbled up from the man's mouth. He gave a little cough and blood spewed up, only to land back on his face.

His smile widened grotesquely.

The body began to jolt and spasm off the floor. One of his arms gave a nauseating crunch as his torso landed on it. Blood and foam began to pool in his open mouth dripping down the sides of his face to the white linoleum floor beneath him.

It was over within 30 seconds. _Robaire_ lay on the floor, one arm bent at an unnatural angle, his head ringed in red-green-brown froth, his eyes wide open. And an impossibly wide smile.

Hilde pressed her face into the back of Duo's jacket where he'd pushed her when the…thing started. Even without seeing it, she'd been revolted by the sounds. Now she tried to block the sound of Andrew throwing up next to her. Duo was impossibly tense in front of her, and she couldn't tell if it was him or herself shaking.

Suddenly she found herself pulled out of the room and leaning against a wall. She vaguely heard Duo shout something about the medical examiner as she slid down to the floor and forced herself to breath.

"Hey Hilde? Babe? You okay?"

She gave a little nod and looked up at him crouching next to her. "Don't call me babe," she said.

He grinned slightly. "Sure thing chica."

She smiled back, but her attention was caught by the half-folded note in his hand. "What does it say, Duo?"

He glanced down at the paper in disgust, but opened it anyway. It only took a second for his eyes to take on new levels of loathing and shock. Wordlessly, he handed it to her.

The first thing was a detailed drawing of the Eiffel Tower crumbling onto the crowds below.

The second was a startlingly accurate portrait of the Minister of Relations staring at the Tower in horror and fear.

The last was two scrawled lines.

__

Why did I do it, you ask?

Practice.

It was signed cryptically: _A World Shaker_.

"D-Duo?" Hilde looked at her partner, shaking again. "Duo, Relena was going to head through Paris before the bombing spree started." He nodded and glared at the open doorway next to them.

After a moment, he found his voice again. "Since you're determined to take this new post, can you promise me one thing?" he asked, turning back to her. "Can you promise that you'll at least try not to get hurt?"

"Only if you can promise the same thing," she answered, holding out her had to him.

He grabbed it, pulling her to her feet. "That's a deal," he said, smiling slightly.

Hilde smiled in return before her attention was pulled back to the room next to them. "Duo, do you think he was one of them? One of these new soldiers?"

"I don't think we'll ever know for sure."

The man in Paris had been an accident really. She hadn't been looking for anything on him, she'd just stumbled across the information. People really needed to think more carefully about what was on their computers, especially when said computer had an internet connection.

If you were determined to blow up half of Paris, you probably shouldn't state it that bluntly in an e-mail to the men providing you with explosives. Unless you wanted to get caught, of course.

She'd been hunting up dirt on Argent. That had led her to La Rouge, a large crime syndicate of western Europe that was into everything from the typical drug smuggling and black arms deals to prostitution and assassination. And, apparently, bribing ESUN Senators and selling high-end explosives to nutcases. She'd found the amazingly detailed records on the crazy and sent them off to the Preventers in Paris. With a few fake postmarks to throw them off, of course.

The afternoon news, blaring from the TV she'd turned on that morning and hadn't bothered to turn off, even as she worked in the hotel room through the day, stated that a man had been arrested late that morning, charged with the three bombings. She was pleased to note that it had been the right man.

With that piece of work concluded, she'd returned to her computer and digging Argent's numerous skeletons out of closets scattered around the Earth Sphere, with the Paris sunshine streaming through her hotel window.

She'd been more than a little put out when she discovered that her normal contact for passing on information in ESUN, Saber, was out of…well, contact. She'd never known Saber to disappear before, and there was no telling when he'd be back. Her information couldn't wait that long. It needed to get passed onto the investigating Senate committee quickly.

Her attention was drawn again to the TV. The woman speaking before the large crowd was neat and composed, her blond-brown hair in a simple twist, her blue-green eyes steady on the people. Her words never wavered, nor were they forced or practiced.

The woman in the hotel room decided that the Minister of Relations was a strong, level-headed woman. She liked her, and she made a spontaneous change in her plans. Minister Darlain would be back in her office in Brussels tomorrow. She'd never seen Brussels.

Well truthfully, she'd never seen any of Europe except for Paris. And she really hadn't seen much of Paris, for all she'd been here four days. She'd seen the airport, the terrifying nightmares that were Parisian roadways (and Parisian drivers, and bicyclists, and pedestrians, and dogs), and she'd seen her hotel room, which she hadn't left since she'd arrived. In the beginning, she'd had the excuse that her back was still sore, but even that was gone now.

She might as well face the fact that she didn't feel like interacting with other people. She was a prime example over what kind of psychos you could meet. But she really needed to get out before she turned into some kind of vampire.

She headed for the shower before she could change her mind. She'd get dressed and go down to the front desk and ask directions to the nearest train or bus station. Then she'd take a walk and look for interesting things to photograph. After all, Paris was supposed to be stunning, and she'd be kicking herself for the rest of her life if she didn't take advantage of this opportunity.

She'd pass the information on to Minister Darlain tomorrow.

  
  
Location: Espoir, former Cinq Kingdom

The woman on stage stood proud and tall, even for her height of five-foot-two. No one could deny the power of her words, always carefully chosen and yet seemingly spontaneous and from the heart. She held the audience in a kind of awe.

The man at the back of the crowd had not been to one of her speeches in a while, but his dark blue eyes focused on her alone. The words were not truly important to him anymore, he had heard variations of them a hundred times over. What was important was that she stood there on that stage, and that none of the audience had any intention of doing her harm.

These outside venues of hers were nightmares on the security teams. With a closed space they could control the entrances and exits, they could find the most vulnerable points, determine the most likely places for trouble. In the open, every point was a vulnerable point and trouble was even more likely than usual.

Her Guard unit was one of the best, he'd made sure of that. Each Preventer Guard had passed the most revealing of background tests and psych. analyses, not to mention they had to have the most exemplary records with the Preventers. But even the best could miss something sometimes, and even the best could use a helping hand. That's why he was here.

It had been another assassination threat. But while they knew the assassin would strike in somewhere in Cinq, they'd had no clue where or when. So he had been brought in. And now that threat was gone. Unfortunately there was a whole new threat on her life, and they didn't have a face or a name to go with this one.

Damn it, what was it with everyone trying to kill her?! She just wanted to do her part in making people happy, but it looked like some of them would never be happy until she died.

Well that would happen over his dead body. Some people were just meant to be disappointed.

He focused on her words again, as he recognized the speech drawing to a close.

"Some say that history repeats. If it does, then humankind has not yet learned from its mistakes. The lessons will repeat until we can make right the wrongs of the past. We can not have true peace until the people of the world can agree that that is what we truly want. We come together today to remember those who paid for that lesson with their lives. Though they fought a war that should never have happened, they did so to protect their homes and families and friends. They made the ultimate sacrifice for what they believed. It is now up to those of us left to make sure that no one has to make that sacrifice again."

She returned to her seat amid the applause, remembering just what had been lost in the wars.

Relena looked out over the audience; oblivious to just how right she was about history.


End file.
